National Parks, Instagram, and Photos on Canvas

by Eric Von Lehmden | April 3, 2013

When you think of the beauty and scenic views of a national park you might be inspired to grab your camera and maybe go out and buy a tripod to capture that beauty. And I wouldn't stop you because I would do the same thing. Visions of Ansel Adams with his large format camera, capturing amazing vistas in Yosemite are very enticing and part of the reason I learned photography in the first place. But if you want to challenge your self creatively then one thing you may want to try is sticking with your camera phone and only using Instagram to document your next trip to a national park.

I am taking my recent experience when I suggest this idea so you don't think I am all talk. Over Easter weekend my wife, her parents, and I went camping in Big Bend National Park here in Texas. This was my first trip to the park and I was extremely excited to get some cool photos to make into canvas prints for the house. Then I started thinking about using my iPhone and Instagram to document the trip. I could do it in a way that I could later make a canvas print wall collage or even a photo album of the trip. I did take my regular DSLR for some photos that I knew my iPhone couldn't handle, but for 90% of the trip I used my phone to snap photos then used Instagram to transform them into a unique collection of vacation memories.

A few tips I learned along the way.

1. Be sure to take your photos with your phone's camera app first then go to Instagram and load the photo you want to edit from the camera roll. This allows you to have an untouched unedited higher resolution version of the photo. If I took all of my photos within the Instagram app I would have cool photos, but I would never have the original and plus...Instagram photo files have a smaller resolution than if I took it with my camera app.

2. Large national parks rarely have any phone service...which is a good and bad thing. If you want to share these photos on Instagram as you are taking them then you are out of luck. You will have to do a post trip recap or #bomb your photos (posting a lot of photos at one time on Instagram). If you don't want to share your photos as you go then not having service is a blessing...kind of like having your phone in airplane mode. You can shoot and process and not worry about posting too much on Instagram.

3. iPhone's wide angle view is perfect for landscapes, but remember that you are cropping square for Instagram. I had to keep that in mind when I saw beautiful wide landscapes to photograph. Being mindful of a square crop rarely ruined any of my photos. In fact it is yet another way that brings the photos together as a cohesive collection when I choose to print these photos on to canvas.

I really only found myself grabbing my DSLR for sunset or fine detail photos, but other than that I was pretty gung-ho about sticking with the iPhone to document the trip. Let me know how you think I did. I had to include one photo of my wife (Kim) and I with the best purchase we made at the park...our bandanas. Side note: Seriously bring a bandana with you when you are camping. They have more uses than a swiss army knife.

If you are wondering how large we can print an Instagram photo of your own you can always use our Free Image Consultation to be sure, but we have printed them as large as 24x24 in the past. Call us at 888.784.5553 or visit the Canvas Press site to start your order today.

One of our favorite campers we saw in the park. How great is this?

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